>> the president of iran makes a historic visit to cairo. ♪ hello, bulk and 2 "al-jazeera live." these are the days -- hello, welcome to "aljazeera live." china takes its first steps towards ending the illegal detention. standard and poor's is being sued by the u.s. government. some say that it is about time. abuse and injustice, the scandal of false adoption for unmarried

mothers in ireland. the president of iran has arrived in cairo. it is the first time an iranian head of government has visited egypt since the iranian revolution in 1959. he got a grand reception but back home he has been dealt a big blow. one of his closest allies has been arrested. thought to be the latest in the approach between the president and his approach -- his opponent. more from cairo in a moment. >> the judiciary has not yet said what they have arrested him. one official report said that he was arrested for illegal possession of government property as the head of the social security network.

ahmadinejad promoted him cheat -- two years after he was suspended as the prosecutor general. he is charged with the torture and death of protesters following the 2009 election. that prison has since been closed. back in 2003 he was in the custody of a canadian irani and. i will point out that he has never been charged for that. >> mahmoud ahmadinejad's visit to egypt is significant given that it is the first visit by an iranian head of state to egypt in more than 30 years. when president morsi visited in the summer, there was an agreement to reopen official

embassies in both countries, but until now we have not seen a full restoration of ties. one of the main sore point between the countries is the ongoing crisis in syria. the egyptian foreign minister said that any transformation between the countries is highly dependent on developments in the region. the president has been very critical of countries supporting him. we might be seeing a trilateral summit on the sidelines that will bring together president morsi, president ahmadinejad, and the turkish president, specifically to address the issue of syria. one of the most significant aspects of his visit is the fact that he will be visiting the seat of sunni islam in a clear attempt to appeal to the sunni muslim world after decades of mistrust towards iran and suspicion that they are trying

to impose shia hegemony in the region. >> these pictures were up loaded onto youtube. al-jazeera cannot independently verify this video that reportedly shows government jets hitting targets in the west of the country. opposition activists say that some neighborhoods in the area were entirely destroyed in the attack. in china, 10 people have been jailed for detaining petitioners in so-called black jails. rights groups say that it may be a sign that the government is cracking down on the illegal detention system. harkening back to when people would travel to the capital and bring their complaints to the emperor. rights groups say that the illegal detention of petitioners in black jails as common and that the chinese government only

recently started acknowledging their existence because of embarrassment over the worst abuse cases. we have the latest from hong kong. >> what is significant here is that although beijing courts say that they have handed down sentences like this previously, it has never been publicized before. this report of the 10 convicts going to prison because of the illegal detention of prisoners has been in the local papers, so people are talking about it and are aware of this. it seems to be sending a clear message from the central government to local authorities accused of abusing their power that such instances will no longer be tolerated. >> in northern mali government activists say that they have captured a group that claims to be linked to al qaeda. it is expected that they will eventually trend -- stand trial. they include a nigerian and an

algerian man, along with 6 volumes -- malians. the targeted rebel bases in the north eastern desert. the rapid progress of the french led force in short lasting security, which is the latest from the un, europe, and west africa, meeting in brussels. our correspondent is in the capital, explaining what the people of mali would like to see from the conference. >> the summit is taking place essentially to attract donor money and identify priorities for molly. we have seen this military intervention from the french, but nevertheless the rebellion in the north, hijacked, if you like, by these al qaeda groups, there were underlying grievances. they felt that the north was

being discriminated against in terms of distribution of resources and felt that very much the country was south- oriented. this conference will be looking at ways to improve economic investment so that all the citizens feel they have a stake in the future of the unified country, also looking at funding for an african force. we are expected to see of to 8000 west african peacekeeping troops here eventually, as well as funding for human rights investigators, attempting to get to the bottom of the abuses that we know were perpetrated by the rebels in the time that they ruled the north, with a look into the worrying allegations of the human rights abuses from the army itself. >> the u.s. has filed civil charges against the ratings agency, standard and poor's, accusing it of profiteering by

deliberately undervaluing mortgage-backed securities, triggering the worst financial crisis since the great depression. according to the u.s. justice department, s&p issue raises on 2.8 trillion dollars -- $2.80 trillion -in mortgages and loans from september 2004 to october 2007, the implosion of which led to losses of $2 trillion at the world's biggest banks. the consequences in the real world, apart from the tens of thousands of homes repossessed, the international labor organization predicted more than 50 million job losses in 2009. the global economy contracted 2.4% in 2009. the recession lasted 18 months, ending in june of 2009. the united states alone, the

government spent $605 billion bailing out banks and industries. earlier we spoke to steve, a professor of economics and finance at the university of western sydney, author of the book "debunking economics." >> the entire structure of so- called verifying the authenticity of financial instruments is entirely structurally corrupt. a civil suit like this should only be the beginning. there should be people behind the jail for what happened this time around. literally, only burning made off has been -- bernie madoff has been jailed in the middle of this crisis. >> the shares of the parent company of standard and poor's, mcgraw hill, took a beating,

dropping nearly 14%. moody's and dropped nearly 11 cents. the forced labor scandal in dublin, we have a long way to the report on alleged abuse and injustice. how are british scientists settling into their new home on an ice shelf in antarctica? ♪ >> hello, more unsettled weather working its way across europe, this system has given us a lot of wintry weather over the eastern parts, including moscow. there is an awful lot of heavy snow. here are the pictures coming out of moscow, that man is

practically standing still. it does not look like the skies are going to clear here. it should be more or less dry, but not for all of europe. another couple of systems coming in, across the adriatic, the next one following hot on its heels, staying cold, the wind is staying down from the north. across the other side of the mediterranean, we have one or two showers around. here it is, working from algeria to geneva. towards the east it is largely fine and dry, a bit blustery in benghazi. very unsettled recently with more wet 5:30 p.m.

pacific, right here on linty v. -- link tv. ♪ >> the top stories on al jazeera, mahmoud ahmadinejad is making a landmark visit to egypt, the first iranian president in cairo since they were cast out, 34 years ago. back home in iran, police have arrested one of the closest allies of ahmadinejad. he used to be had prosecutor, but was suspended. in china 10 people have been

jailed for illegally detaining protesters in so-called black jails. protesters have been locked up for complaining about the abuse of power. let's go back to our top story, the rest of the ally of mahmoud ahmadinejad. we have an iranian expert and logger joining us live. good to have you with us. first, why are we seeing this bitter rivalry between ahmadinejad and the parliamentary speaker? >> this is a fight over the social security organization. this is an organization that is very well funded. to give you an idea of how much

funds that have at their disposal, we are talking 5% to 10% of the gdp, very substantive, there is almost no business that can be done without somehow coming into contact with this organization. the money at its disposal is the key to who wins the election. much funds that have at their the social security organization can buy the votes. that is why it is crucial and the fight is over. >> is he being used as a tool in this dispute between ahmadinejad and [indiscernible] or has he been arrested because, let's be honest, the man has a lot to answer for? >> he does, and i am not denying that, but if it had anything to do with the murder of the canadian iranian photojournalist or the crimes of went on in detention after post- election protests, he should have been able to just list that. but this was specifically a

creep land thing. ahmadinejad was flying this morning and he was arrested in the early hours of the morning. he called the bluff and did not mind the devastating videothe tt was shown in the parliament. i would say that there was some pre planning and we need to see what ahmadinejad will do when he comes back from egypt. he made the remarks this morning that has resonated with many iranians, the judiciary should not be a family. we have a situation where in the video and official it, someone attempts to bribe him and induce him with all sorts of financial bangs. the person reporting it has been freed. new know, what is going on, ordinary people are asking themselves. >> they do have a strong hold on

the judiciary. how do you think that this will affect the upcoming election? a possible front runner to being the next president, how do you think this dispute will affect his chances? >> you have five brothers who are very influential. two, one of them is that of the legislative power, one of them as head of the judiciary power. they have built a lot of influence. this also shows the extent of corruption that the brothers were involved in. i believe that if this was a free election, they would not have a chance, because obviously people do not want to vote for five brothers to spread their corruption across the country. >> all right, thank you for joining us there from london. in ireland, the government is about to be given a long awaited

report into the so called magdalene laundry scandal. run by catholic nuns, it forced thousands of girls and women to work as slave labor under the pretense of offering them moral guidance. >> the buildings that hosted the magdalene laundries stand as monuments of religious and state sponsor brutality. in these places orders of catholic nuns carry out the greatest contra imaginable, taking in women on the pretext of looking after them and getting rich on their forced labor. places like this have had hundreds of girls and young women coming to work in the laundry. some might have been sent in disgrace because they became pregnant, others might have been orphans or babies. some were sent by the court for getting into trouble with the law. some were sent by their own parents. the thing they all had in common

was the sense that they were here voluntarily, for their own moral good. >> this is the official form that accompanied margaret in at the age of two. look at the wording, she was charged, as if with a criminal offense, of having a father incapable of caring for her. the detention was meant to last into her teens, she lived her whole life there, somehow becoming pregnant while sequestered away, twins who were reunited with her at 23. there she is at 42, looking 63. >> she was vulnerable? >> she was. she was intellectually impaired. there is no name on the record for her intellectual disability,

other than the old-fashioned term that she was a slow learner. >> this is slavery, isn't it? >> this is slavery in a labor camp, run by the church, facilitated in -- facilitated by the state. >> the state made the laundry's ridge. this little book, showing how these girls and women were forced to work for nothing. those who tried to escape were rounded up by the police and sent back in. >> culturally we are stuck in the past. we do not even know how to acknowledge it or understand it. hopefully this apology, long overdue, will begin to start to move us in the right direction. >> margaret and a number of fathers now exist in a communal grave, who didn't -- alongside many others who did nothing

wrong. the last laundry was closed in 1996. it was a chance for ireland to expose their dark pasts to the light. there are people who are calling this slavery, not least of which jeffrey shannon, a human-rights lawyer. in human terms you think that what happened in these laundries constitutes slavery? >> the detention of women and girls for work is very clearly slavery. if you look at why it is slavery, look at the fact that ireland signed the convention against forced labor. it fits within that definition. it is forced or compulsory labor. in addition to that, the prohibition against slavery is preemptory and so fundamental that no face can actually exclude it from the terms of the

commitment to international instrument. it is also our opinion that in the international convention of civil and political rights, which ireland has ratified, it is a breach of several international instruments. >> throughout the 20th century the state said they had no knowledge of this, get irish society, people have said to us that if you misbehave, you will go to the laundry. somehow everyone knew that bad things were happening, but the state would not question the church. >> what is interesting about it is the delay in addressing this issue. the delay on the part of the state, who has ultimate culpability. this report lies on state involvement. >> who should pay compensation? the nuns or the state? >> it is not just compensation.

we are talking about an investigation and accountability. accountability is equally important, that there are prosecutions that are brought in this fashion. women with difficulties, it is my view that accountability is a key part to providing redress in this area. >> of course, the problem with prosecutions is that most of the people are dead now, the nuns as well of -- as well as the victims'. if this drags out, prosecutions could be very difficult. >> in bangladesh a war crimes tribunal has sentenced the leader of the main party to crimes -- with crimes against humanity. he was a senior member of the [indiscernible] party that sided with pakistan during the war of liberation. other former party members were sentenced to death last month. more evidence presented in the

case of five men accused of gang rape and murder in new delhi. prosecutors showed evidence in the case, it has led to massive protests for women's rights in india and if convicted the men could face the death penalty. nepal is joining a number of countries urging a presidentship document with a category of third gender, people who wish to be identified as either male or female and is being hailed as a victory for sexual minorities in the country. we have the report from katmandu. >> jody is neither a man or woman. born a male, he wants to be identified as a woman trapped in a man's body. her old pictures bear no resemblance to her current self.

>> any aspect of life where i have to show my identity card becomes complicated. i recently tried to enter government service. on my identity card i look completely different. how will they accept me? >> jody is a third gender, a category that only a handful of countries recognize. the supreme>> court made adjustments in 2007 that allowed people to choose a third gender in their identity top -- identity documents. around 2000 people are expected to choose third gender. they will be identified as either male or female. >> senses a recognition by states is very important. -- census recognition by states is very important. >> we followed in to the

administration office. >> the guidelines do not include people who already have citizenship. i spoke to the whole -- to the home ministry. >> they were responsible for the process, this was not my personal problem alone. >> i can tell you that your process is not complete. you will have to pursue that. >> in the society it is a community of lesbians, gays, and trans genders discussing this. >> trans genders will still be forced to identify as mail. >> only the first time my personalapplicants can benefit. the other genders that classify as male or female will have to face the many challenges of being effectively stateless. >> in mexico city investigators say that a gas leak caused last week's explosion at the state-

run oil company. 37 people were killed, dozens were injured. an electrical fault triggered a spark in the building's basement. mexico city has been relatively safe from the drug war that has engulfed the rest of the country, but the violence is now moving into the capital. >> police checkpoints like this are more common these days in mexico city, an effort to keep rising violence from reaching the heart of the country. throughout the six year drug war in mexico, mexico city is one of the places least touched by violence. there were 84 murders around the capital in january, the highest death toll since 2007. in many cases these were mass killings where bodies were left mutilated or dismembered.

authorities here blamed a turf war and the local police chief says that mexico city needs to be better prepared in case it spreads. >> i have the impression that mexico city's leaders know that could be short-m lived. >> they are actually safer than many cities in the world, with a lower mayor -- lower murder rate than washington, d.c. or sao paulo. >> experts say that it has more to do with luck. >> we did not do anything to stop the violence. this is not a